Hiked up via Devil's Backbone and summitted Harwood on the way to Baldy in hot, dry, breezy weather. Then summitted Baldy and returned to Manker Flats via the Ski Hut Trail. This was my third summit of Baldy and first up Harwood.

Hiked to the top of Baldy, then took the Devil's Backbone trail down to the saddle between Harwood and Baldy. Took a use trail up to Harwood, then hiked down the scree slope back to the Devil's Backbone trail.

Link up of Baldy and Harwood via Devil's Backbone in what is likely the last of the spring snow. Although there was a large crowd on Baldy, I had Harwood to myself and was the first person in 8 days to sign the register.

Drove down from the Bay Area for a conference in Palm Springs - after visiting the downtown LA library I drove up to Manker Flat and hiked up to the ski lodge and took the Devil's Backbone trail up to Baldy with a side visit to West Baldy and Harwood on a fine afternoon. Barely any snow to be found anywhere, and none on the trail. Trip report is HERE.

Using this route in the cold season is unusual, but due to the extremely dry winter it was possible to do almost the entire Register Ridge in hiking boots. The top had snow, as did the Harwood summit. Almost blown off by the strong winds.

The summit was very, very windy, but then so was Baldy, which is why Mark J and I chose to go here instead. Interestingly enough, almost immediately after descending only 5-10 vertical feet from the summit toward Devil's Backbone, the wind stopped.